Cordingley puzzle 203 #chess

October 21, 2013

White to play and win

HINT: I messed this one up royally. This one hurts: I should have been able to solve it, and even set the pieces out on a board, and even moved them around, but …zilch.

Solution

When you know the solution, it isn't that hard: or maybe it is very hard, but it shouldn't have been impassible.

Clearly, in Purdy terms, the Ne6 is tied to the defence of the queen. So 1 Re6 is a natural first try, but after 1…Qg3 there is no zwischenzug and nor can the Qg3 be trapped. Also, 1 Rc5+ is another natural try, since it can't be taken because the knight is tied. Other tries include Rb7, Bb7; and things noted include the fact that the Qg3 can't go anywhere sensible, though if the Bg2 were moved, Qg2 becomes a possibility.

I even looked at 1 Qf4 Nf4 2 Bf1 with the idea of Kh2-g3, and this is what I would have played in a game, but 2…f6 and 3…g5 secure black's knight's fine posting.

So, switch in Houdini, and in less than a second, 1 Rc5+! when Kb8 is the main move (1…Rc7 2 Rc7+ and 3 Rb7+). And then 2 Bb7!! which I just didn't get (I do now). The first cute point, and the impossible to see backward move, is 2…Qg3+ Bg2+!; and if 2…Rb7 3 Rb7+ Kb7 4 Qg2+! (the second backward move) and white mates with a white square attack.

Alas, I saw all these possibilities, including the move of the Q to the h1a8 diagonal, but couldn't put them all together. I think this problem, of all the puzzles so far in Cordingley, hurts the most. I was capable of solving it, particularly because I had 1 Rc5+ Kb8 on the board (but didn't see 2 Bb7), but simply had no ideas, or not enough imagination.

The diagrams below show some of the positions, starting with the line I chose as my 'solution' before looking at the answer. I decided upon 1 Re6, reasoning that white might have something in the ending, my main line being 1…Qg3 2 fg fe 3 g5 Rf8 4 Be4 Rf7 5 Rb2 when white picks up the g6 pawn, and will then advance his g and h pawns. From my analysis on the board, I couldn't see a way black could get his rooks it the game.